'''Taner Akçam''' (* October 23,1953, [[Turkey]]) is a [[Turkish]] [[historian]], [[Sociology|sociologist]] and [[Publicist|publicist]]. He is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the [[Armenian Genocide]] by the [[Ottoman]] Turkish government in [[1915]].

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'''Taner Akçam''' (* October 23,1953, [[Turkey]]) is a [[Turkish]] historian, sociologist and publicist. He is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the [[Armenian Genocide]] by the [[Ottoman]] Turkish government in [[1915]].

==Studies==

==Studies==

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=== Articles ===

=== Articles ===

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*''Dialogue Across an International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue'', [http://www.zoryaninstitute.org/Table_Of_Contents/dialogue_akcamforeword.html zoryaninstitute.org], 2001

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*''Dialogue Across an International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue'', [http://www.zoryaninstitute.org/Books/book_dialogue.htm about this book and foreword], 2001

*''“[[My Turkishness in Revolt]]”'', about [[Hrant Dink]]'s assassination in 2007.

*''“[[My Turkishness in Revolt]]”'', about [[Hrant Dink]]'s assassination in 2007.

There is something I have difficulty understanding. You, who have put an end to 95 years of “there are no Kurds, they’re just Turks who wander around the mountains” lying policies by the state on the Kurds; who have removed the military’s guardianship over politics, the same military that since the beginning of this Republic has decided who lived and who died and that initiated coups at the drop of a hat. How is it that you who have made such important inroads into this democracy can insist on continuing the 95 years of denialist policies when it comes to the subject of 1915?

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All of us believed that when you signed those protocols with Armenia in October 2009, the 95 years of lies surrounding 1915 were coming to an end just as they had on the Kurdish issue. Could it be that when you signed those Protocols you believed that you were going to come to a resolution continuing the 95 year old policies of denial? Doesn’t seem possible….Could you have found a way out of the Kurdish problem by continuing to insist that “There are no Kurds, they’re just Turks who wander around mountains”? If you had stayed loyal to the logic of the problem solving methods of the Military when it comes to the Kurds, whereby they were equated with terrorist organizations, treating the Kurds as “nails” and themselves as the “hammer”, would you have found a way out of the impasse?

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Well, it seems to appear that you seriously think you are going to find a resolution to the Armenian problem by continuing the 95 year old lie. Anyone opposing this view on the Armenian issue is the “nail” and you are the “hammer”….trying to intimidate the US, posturing like a bully…is this how you’re going to remove a 95 year old gangrene? Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Arınç, if it could have been fixed this way, don’t you think it would have been, long ago? Heck, who even needs you then…Şükrü Elekdağ would have fixed it; Veli Küçük would have found a neat solution…right?

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So, what happens if tomorrow Obama decides it’s time to call your bluff and gives you a taste of your own medicine. What if he comes out with a statement saying “You want to shut me up or get me to tell a lie by threatening me! You’re trying to force me to deny what I believe to be true with threats! Shame on you! Aren’t you the slightest bit embarrassed to be threatening me like that? I’m not lying any more….I am going to state what I believe about 1915. It was genocide”. What are you going to do then?

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When the protocols were signed in Switzerland, we believed that it marked the end of 95 years of the policies of lies and that it was the death knell for the Gündüz Aktan, Şükrü Elekdağ and Yusuf Halaçoğlu era. Not only was the border going to be opened, but commissions devoted to making recommendations on how to resolve the issues stemming from history were going to be established. It seems likely that while Switzerland was mediating the agreement, it tried to convince both you and Armenia by pointing to the “Bergier Commission” which it had established in 1996, as an example of a “Commission of Independent Experts”. This commission had been formed to research the role that Switzerland had played in the Jewish Holocaust. After five years of work, it presented a final report in 2001 but during those five years, 25 research papers were published covering almost 11,000 pages of information.

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There is a fact that is even more important than this however. One year before the commission was formed, in 1995, the Swiss government apologized to all Jews in the world for its policies during the Second World War. In actuality the commission was formed as a result of that apology. There is no possible way that you could not have known that one of the conditions for the establishment of the commission was an apology to the Jews. Even if the Swiss hadn’t mentioned it to you, it was a well known fact and we believed that you signed the protocols with full knowledge of this, and heralded the beginning of change in 95 years of the policy of denial…. “an apology to the Armenians is on its way” so we thought. Apparently that wasn’t the case; instead you had some “oriental inscrutability” in the works. You were going to continue the 95 year old policy of denial while fabricating a resolution to the problems that have plagued our relationship with Armenia. This is hard to believe but it is apparent from everything that you have done thus far.

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Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Arınç, I ask that you put this bit of information somewhere in the corner of your minds: you will never resolve the problem of 1915 by repeating a lie that’s been memorized over 95 years. If it could have been resolved by rote repetition, there were those before you, who were much louder, who would have achieved it. A black stain was smeared on the brow of the Turkish nation in 1915. The ones who did this were the Unionist murderers. If you don’t identify that stain and if you don’t put some distance between yourselves and those who placed that stain upon the brow of the Turkish nation, you won’t be able to take a single step forward on this issue. Don’t even bother trying.

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Mr. Prime Minister, you’ve called what happened in 1938 in Dersim, a massacre. It’s true we don’t know exactly how many were killed, but you are acting like a bully towards those who condemn what happened in 1915, an event that involved at least 10-15 times more human beings than those who perished in Dersim. On the subject of war crimes committed by Israel against the residents of Gaza, you have shown your displeasure and lifted your voice in opposition, with justification. But when the subject of 1915 comes up, an event that involved killings of a level that can’t even begin to be compared with the violations of human rights in Gaza, you made absurd remarks like “No one can force me to admit that Moslems commit murders. My forebears were not murderers”. Don’t you think others are going to look at that and say “who is he kidding?”

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You are the ones who have changed the traditional line that’s been followed on the Kurdish question, who have fought to push the military out of political life. Why are you parroting the same 95 year old lies that have been told by this military and this bureaucracy? Let me give you an example. You weren’t able to make any progress on the Kurdish and military matter by siding with the ones who called those involved in the Şemdinli event “one of our boys”.[1] You were only able to make progress after so many painful experiences, once you put distance between those “good boys” and yourselves. The subject of 1915 is no different.

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“Our boys” are the ones who continue to deny that Armenians were annihilated in 1915! They’re the ones forming the Talat Pasha Committees and organizing the memorial meetings for Kemal, the murderous Mayor of Boğazlayan. And let’s not forget, they are the same ones who have planned assassinations against you and have tried to overthrow your administration…Don’t you realize that you will never be able to solve anything regarding 1915 by holding onto the same position of those who want to dig your graves?

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Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Arınç, the answers to the problems that are the legacy of 1915 can’t be found in the denialist policies of Veli Küçük, Doğu Perinçek, Şükrü Elekdağ and Yusuf Halaçoğlu. Don’t search for the answers there. You won’t get anywhere repeating the chorus they’ve been singing for 95 years. They are your adversaries on the issue of 1915, just as they are when it comes to the Kurdish issue and the issue of the military’s place in politics. You cannot construct your response to 1915 by holding rank with those who want to drag the country into chaos; who murdered Hrant Dink, who have planned massacres against Christians and who have been plotting coups against you.

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If you are going to respond to 1915, you need to search for that answer in a place that is different than the answers given by Ergenekon or by the ones who plotted the coups. For this you should follow your Moslem roots in Anatolia that have risen alongside your party and take a closer look at what these roots did during 1915.

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Mr. Arınç, these words are for you. With reason, you were angered by the way the women of CHP in Mersin tore up the Muslim veil [2] Do you realize, however, that with the position that you have taken you have torn the deep fabric of Anatolian Islam, have ripped apart the cultural legacy of Anatolian Moslems who can walk head held high for bravely challenging the murders of 1915? Do you know that when the Unionist gangs were murdering Armenians in 1915, the ones who put up the biggest fight, who challenged them the most were the Moslems of Anatolia? Did you have any idea that it was the Moslem community of Kastamonu that marched upon the Governor’s office demanding “we won’t stand for our neighbors being murdered”? Or that it was the Moslems of Yozgat who opposed Killer Kemal of Boğazlayan yelling “there’s no place in the Koran for the murder of innocents!”? Have you never heard of the important role played in the hanging of Killer Kemal by the written testimony of the Grand Mufti of Boğazlayan, Abdullahzade Mehmed? Did you know that in opposing the murders being committed by Killer Kemal, this Moslem Mufti said “Allah stands above us all. I fear his wrath”?

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Mr. Arınç, are you aware of the order given by Commander Kamil Pasha of the Third Army in 1915? He stated “Who ever tries to hide Armenians in their homes will be executed before his front door and his home will be burned to the ground.” Despite this order, do you know that Haji Halil, a Moslem from Urfa, hid an Armenian family of eight in the attic of his home, in the market of Urfa for one full year despite the threats of death and burning? Go to Eastern Anatolia and ask the members of parliament from your own party. They’ll tell you dozens, hundreds of stories like this.

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I don’t need to make a point that when the Unionists were massacring Armenians in Anatolia, pious Moslems were opposing what was happening and saying that the murder of innocents has no place in the Koran. Whichever conference I attend and whenever I’m talking with Armenians they tell me “if we are alive today, it is without a doubt because of the aid of some Moslems”. But they’ll also add “because of your government’s policy of denial, we can’t talk about it openly.”

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Mr. Arınç, you can’t build a future on the backs of murderers. You can build a future on the backs of those righteous Moslems in Anatolia who challenged the murderers. In the same way that you can’t resolve today’s problems by supporting Hrant’s murderers, the “Samats” and the “Veli Küçüks”, you won’t get anywhere supporting the murderers of the Hrants of the past. The answers to 1915 can’t be found in the answers of Doğu Perinçek or Veli Küçük. They are members of the Ergenekon gang that killed Hrant Dink; it’s natural that they defend the murderers of the Hrants of the past. Let the “Veli Küçüks” defend the murderer Samat of today and the murderers Talat, Enver and Kemal of yesterday. Your place is not at the side of Veli Küçük. Your duty is to stand by the side of the “Haji Halils”, to stand up for those Moslems who put themselves and their families at risk opposing the massacres.

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I would like you to recognize one more thing. Because of the 95 years of denialist policies and defense of murderers, from an international perspective there’s a second stain on the brow of Turkishness and Islam, next to the one created by 1915. Because of the policies followed by the Şükrü Elekdağ’s and the Veli Küçük’s, Turks are perceived as a people who enjoy murdering, who defend murders. We need to rescue Turkishness and Islam from the Talats and the Envers of yesterday and the Samats of today and to not allow the Elekdağ’s and the Küçük’s to define it. Turkishness and Islam are identities that are too honorable to be left at the hands of murderers and their defenders. I have an Armenian friend and he has said to me “Until yesterday, when I heard Turkish, I felt an hatred for it. I called it the language of my enemy. But since getting to know you, I’ve begun to say it’s the sound of my friend, a Turk”.

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We need the honest and honorable cry of Turkishness and Islam. Let Doğu Perinçek, Veli Küçük and the ones who planned your assassination defend the murderers of yesterday and today. You need to see by now that the ones who defended Talat, Enver and Dr. Nazım in the past are the same people who defend Oğün Samat today.

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If we can walk with a shred of self-respect today, head held high, it’s because we can point to Hrant’s killer and call him what he is. You need to see that once we acknowledge the murderers of the Hrants of 1915, we will walk with our heads held high, self-respect intact. Nazim Hikmet has the best words for describing what needs to be done in connection with 1915. I’d like to conclude this letter with him.

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:Grocer Garabed’s lights are on

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:He hasn’t forgiven, this Armenian citizen,

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:The way his father was slaughtered in the Kurdish mountains

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:But he loves you because you haven’t forgiven either

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:The stain that’s been drawn on the brows of the Turkish people

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Mr. Prime Minister, I know that you like to read poetry. The Turkish person and the Moslems of the Middle East want to hear these verses from you!

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[1] This references an incident where a book store in a Kurdish city was bombed. Officers in the Turkish military were suspected of having planned and/or executed the deed. The Chief of the General Staff was quoted as saying the officers were “our good boys”.

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[2] This is in reference to an incident during “International Women’s Day” where women members of the CHP (Republican People’s Party) tore up the headscarf of a Moslem woman.

==See also==

==See also==

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*[[The Akcam Case]] - Turkish government case against him for saying genocide

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*[[The Akcam Case]] - Turkish government case against him for using the term Armenian Genocide

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*[[When Was the Decision to Annihilate the Armenians Taken?]] - research showing where and when the decision for genocide was started (earlier than previously thought, and on a more regional level)

Latest revision as of 03:12, 25 July 2019

Taner Akcam. Copyright (c) 2005, Raffi Kojian, all rights reserved

Taner Akçam (* October 23,1953, Turkey) is a Turkish historian, sociologist and publicist. He is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turkish government in 1915.

Contents

Studies

Akçam studied at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. He was a faculty member of Administrative Sciences, Department of Political Economy. He received his Bachelor of Administrative Sciences in 1976. He stayed at the university as a Master's student and assistant in the same department for some time. In 1976 he was arrested and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment as the editor-in-chief of a political journal. He escaped prison one year later. He has been living in the Federal Republic of Germany since early 1978 as a political refugee. He continued his political actvities and in 1988 started working for the Hamburg Institute for Social Research on the history of violence and torture in Turkey. He earned his Doctorate Degree at The University of Hannover in 1995. The topic was called Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide on the Background of Military Tribunals in Istanbul between 1919 and 1922. Currently he belongs to the scientific staff of the Hamburg Foundation to promote science and culture, working at the Hamburg Institute for Social Research. Today, Akcam is currently a Visiting Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota.

Work

He has published various books and articles in English, German and Turkish on the subject of Turkish - Armenian relations.

"[Akçam] is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government in 1915 [...] This book represents the first scholarly attempt to both document the Genocide and understand that genocide from a perpetrator, rather than victim perspective, and to contextualize fully the events of 1915 within Turkey’s political history, and western political policies towards the region more generally."

"He is one of a handful of scholars who are challenging their homeland's insistent declarations that the organized slaughter of Armenians did not occur; and he is the first Turkish specialist to use the word "genocide" publicly in this context. His new book represents the first scholarly attempt to both document the Genocide and understand that genocide from a perpetrator, rather than victim perspective, and to contextualize fully the events of 1915 within Turkey's political history, and western political policies towards the region more generally."

External links

Non copyright free info

Akçam is the author of the recently published groundbreaking study From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide, as well as Dialogue Across An International Divide: Essays Towards a Turkish-Armenian Dialogue, and numerous other books and articles. Through his research, writings, and lectures, he has worked tirelessly to help the Turkish people come to terms with their history and to bridge the gap between Turks and Armenians.

He has said of his approach to the issues covered in his new book, “Any effort towards democratization in the region today must begin with a dialogue about history and, most importantly, the events that transpired during the transition from Empire to Republic. Scholarly activity has been locked into a cycle of verification or denial of what happened in history, as opposed to analyzing the socio-political and historical factors that allowed that history to unfold.”

“[Akçam] is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish government in 1915,” commented genocide scholar Vahakn Dadrian. “This book represents the first scholarly attempt to both document the Genocide and understand that genocide from a perpetrator, rather than victim perspective, and to contextualize fully the events of 1915 within Turkey’s political history, and western political policies towards the region more generally.”

Taner Akçam was born in northeastern Turkey and became interested in politics at an early age. He was active in Turkish politics until he fled to Germany as a political refugee. For many years, in the face of great adversity, he has worked to create a dialogue between Turks and Armenians. He received a Ph.D. from Hanover University in Germany. Currently he is Visiting Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

The Armenian Taboo and Mustafa Kemal

By Taner Akçam

Yeni Binyil
Sunday, 8 October 2000.

Translated from Turkish by Sayat, EXCLUSIVELY for ANN/Groong

The uproar over the "Genocide Bill" continues. But these developments
are no surprise. There is a nice saying: what is going to come on
Thursday is obvious from Wednesday. Turkey is already cracking open
the last taboo area of the [Turkish] Republic. Despite all the fuss
and all the threats, we will have to see that we will, finally, have
to start openly discussing the murders committed against the Armenians
by the Committee of Union and Progress [Ittihad ve Terakki or Young
Turks]. I don't know if they will ever call it a "Genocide" or when it
will happen, but the Turkish Government will be forced to accept this
historical fact.

Because, the Republic's final taboo is being cracked open. It is a
historical process. It cannot be stopped by hurling obscenities,
threats, or blackmail. The reason is simple: the Turkish Republic was
founded on five taboos. 1) There are no classes in Turkey -- we are a
tightly-knit mass; 2) There are no Kurds in Turkey. They are all
mountain-roving Turks; 3) We are a westernized and secular nation.
The existence of [our] Islamic culture is not even a topic for
discussion; 4) There was no Armenian Genocide. The Armed Forces were
assigned the duty to be watchful and defend this nation which was
founded on these four taboos. It was illegal to discuss the influence
of the military over the regime, and this was the 5th taboo.

It was considered a crime to talk about any of these taboo areas.
Statutes in the Criminal Law like 142-4, 163, 125, etc. were
legislated [for this purpose]. But overseers of each of the taboos
made their presence felt and military coops, tortures, and deaths
ensued. As a nation we suffered a lot but at the end the taboos
disappeared one by one. In fact, through a timetable in accordance
with the Helsinki decisions, it was resolved that these were a part of
Turkey's realities and that they needed solutions. What we call the
democratization package is nothing more than the recognition of these
taboo areas and remedying them accordingly. Freedom of thought, steps
needed to be taken regarding the Kurdish question, lessening the
influence of the military over the regime, etc.... Turkey will
become democratic only to the extent that it overcomes the taboos.

Note that of all of these taboos, only the Armenian Genocide issue had
remained. Because there was nobody around to bring this issue up
internally, there was no criminal law against it. However along with
globalization and the membership process in the European Union, this
issue will come or be brought before us with increasing intensity.
There is a decision that was taken by the European Parliament in 1987.
In order to become an EU member, it requires Turkey to admit to the
reality of the Armenian Genocide and this admission, it is stressed,
will not have binding responsibilities on Turkey's part. Since Europe
cannot back away from this decision, it is up to Turkey to decide.

The matter is actually clear. In a nation that wants to be democratic,
there can be no subject that would be illegal to discuss. A free
society does not tolerate a taboo. In the end Turkey will admit that
in 1915 a great human tragedy occurred. Just as the Kurdish reality is
accepted [in Turkey] today despite the obstinacy and cries like "there
are no Kurds, they are mountain-dwelling Turks", the reality of 1915
will too be accepted. The most important thing is that they must not
be put on the agenda by foreign pressures and not come with a high
price tag. 30,000 people should not have died for the Kurdish reality
to be accepted.

Unfortunately, it is beyond debate that the events of 1915 qualify as
genocide according to the 1948 UN definitions. Anyone involved in the
issue with even a rough knowledge of the documents in the Ottoman,
German, Austrian, Armenian, and British archives knows that the facts
in these archives do not contradict, but on the contrary, support each
other. And the underlying point is that the Ottoman subject Armenians
were systematically murdered and left to die.

The claims that the events of 1915 does not constitute genocide cannot
be addressed one by one. Here, I will suffice to say that the thesis
put forward by some of our writers that a racist ideology is needed to
call a mass murder a genocide can not be taken seriously. In reality,
the question has several dimentions that go beyond the dilemma whether
to call it genocide or not. Here, I would like to underline and bring
forth one of these points I see everyone has forgotten about.

The fact that the Armenians were destroyed by the Ittihad was not even
a debate topic.

The fact that what occurred in 1915 was a mass murder is accepted by
anyone who lived at that time -- even by the leaders of the War of
Independence. It may come as a surprise, but this is the truth. Of
course the word genocide is quite new. It came into existence after
World War II. During the [Turkish] War of Independence words like
massacre, mass murder, and deportation were used. There were tens of
speeches in which Mustafa Kemal described what was done to the
Armenians as "cowardly [act]" and "savagery" and qualified them as
massacre. In September of 1919, the American General Harbord upon
visiting Mustafa Kemal said "he [Kemal] denounced the massacre of the
Armenians." According to Kemal, "the massacre and deportation of the
Armenians was the handiwork of a tiny committee that took over the
government" (Rauf Orbay'in Hatiralari, Yakin Tarihimiz [Rauf Orbay's
Memoirs, Our Recent History], Vol. 3, s. 179). In the same period, in
an interview with the US Radio newspaper he says "we have no
expansionist plans....We guarantee there will be no new Turkish
atrocities against the Armenians" (Bilal Simsir, British Documents on
Ataturk, Volume I, page 171, Ankara 1973). In a telegram he sent to
Kazim Karabekir in May 1920, he asks Karabekir to avoid any
undertaking that may be construed as another Armenian massacre. In a
speech he made at the National Assembly on April 24, he called what
the Armenians were subjected to in 1915 as "cowardly [act]"
(Ataturk'un TBMM Acik ve Kapali Oturumlarindaki Konusmalari [Ataturk's
Speeches in the Open and Closed Sessions of the Turkish Grand National
Assembly], Volume I, page 59) and so on and so forth.

In those years whether the events of 1915 were a genocide was not even
a topic of debate. In fact, it was being openly stated that the guilty
would be punished. In September of 1919 there were a series of
correspondances between the Ali Riza Pasha cabinet and Mustafa Kemal.
Defense Secretary Cemal, representing Istanbul, asked Mustafa Kemal's
Congress of Representatives [i.e. the precursor of the Grand National
Assembly] to issue a declaration announcing that "those guilty of all
sorts of murders during the War will not escape lawful punishment."
In his response Mustafa Kemal says "it is our great aspiration to show
that the big and small is equal in responsiblity in our country and
that the era of perfect rule of law commenced in an entirely impartial
and perfectly just fashion by bringing the wartime misrule into the
open and meting out punishment". Moreover, he adds that he saw this
punishment would be "more appropriate and beneficial to show it to
friend and foe alike if it was actually put into practise rather than
remaining as publicity on paper, as the latter case would cause many
questions to be raised". In other words, what Kemal expected was
punishment not for the sake of paper publicity but a real one (Nutuk
[Ataturk's Oration], Volume III, Vesikalar, Vesika 141-2, s. 164-6).

The issue of trials for those guilty of massacre were taken up in
Amasya negotiations. During the discussions, five protocols, three
open and signed, and two secret and unsigned were agreed upon. In the
first protocole from October 21, 1919 "the reawakening of the
Ittihadism and the Ittihadist spirit in the country and even the
display of some of its symbols is politically harmful.....The legal
punishment of the guilty in connection with the deportations is
necessary [both] judicially and politically". The third protocol is
about the upcoming general elections. An agreement was reached on the
necessity of barring the Ittihadists wanted for the Armenian
massacres. For that purpose, the Anatolian movement [Congress of
Representatives] reserved the right to interfere in the elections.
"Since it is not acceptable that individuals assembling as
representatives be connected to the evils of the Ittihad and tarnished
by the [participation in the] acts of deportation and massacre and
other evils against the true interests of the nation and the country,
all necessary steps can be taken to oppose such a direction (Nutuk,
Volume III, Vesika 159-160, s. 193-4).

It is possible to present pages and pages of [similar] examples. Here
is what I want to get across: the fact that the events of 1915 were a
mass killing was never a matter of dispute. The main issue of the time
was the desire [by the Allies] to divvy up Anatolia on the pretext of
punishing the Turks and using the events of 1915 as a justification.
What Kemal and his friends were proposing was the punishment of the
guilty but without the division of Anatolia. Today, instead of the
hysterical cries, if we assumed an attitude as Mustafa Kemal did
regarding the subject, we would have made great headway.

A scholar at the University of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust &
Genocide Studies has filed a case with the European Court of Human
Rights that he says is the first attempt to overturn through that
legal channel a controversial provision of Turkey's penal code that
criminalizes "denigrating Turkishness."

Taner Akçam, a Turkish sociologist and historian, has faced
retribution in his home country for his academic work about the
killing of as many as 1.5 million Armenians during the waning days of
the Ottoman Empire, which modern Turkish governments have refused to
characterize as genocide.

Mr. Akçam has been outspoken in his willingness to do so, in, for
example, his most recent book, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide
and the Question of Turkish Responsibility, which was published last
year. He has come under attack as a result.

He was charged under Article 301 of Turkey's penal code, which has
been used frequently against journalists, academics, and writers, and
which Amnesty International says "poses a direct threat to the
fundamental right to freedom of expression."

Open Letter to the Prime Minister and Bülent Arınç

Published in Taraf, Saturday, March 13, 2010

There is something I have difficulty understanding. You, who have put an end to 95 years of “there are no Kurds, they’re just Turks who wander around the mountains” lying policies by the state on the Kurds; who have removed the military’s guardianship over politics, the same military that since the beginning of this Republic has decided who lived and who died and that initiated coups at the drop of a hat. How is it that you who have made such important inroads into this democracy can insist on continuing the 95 years of denialist policies when it comes to the subject of 1915?

All of us believed that when you signed those protocols with Armenia in October 2009, the 95 years of lies surrounding 1915 were coming to an end just as they had on the Kurdish issue. Could it be that when you signed those Protocols you believed that you were going to come to a resolution continuing the 95 year old policies of denial? Doesn’t seem possible….Could you have found a way out of the Kurdish problem by continuing to insist that “There are no Kurds, they’re just Turks who wander around mountains”? If you had stayed loyal to the logic of the problem solving methods of the Military when it comes to the Kurds, whereby they were equated with terrorist organizations, treating the Kurds as “nails” and themselves as the “hammer”, would you have found a way out of the impasse?

Well, it seems to appear that you seriously think you are going to find a resolution to the Armenian problem by continuing the 95 year old lie. Anyone opposing this view on the Armenian issue is the “nail” and you are the “hammer”….trying to intimidate the US, posturing like a bully…is this how you’re going to remove a 95 year old gangrene? Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Arınç, if it could have been fixed this way, don’t you think it would have been, long ago? Heck, who even needs you then…Şükrü Elekdağ would have fixed it; Veli Küçük would have found a neat solution…right?

So, what happens if tomorrow Obama decides it’s time to call your bluff and gives you a taste of your own medicine. What if he comes out with a statement saying “You want to shut me up or get me to tell a lie by threatening me! You’re trying to force me to deny what I believe to be true with threats! Shame on you! Aren’t you the slightest bit embarrassed to be threatening me like that? I’m not lying any more….I am going to state what I believe about 1915. It was genocide”. What are you going to do then?

When the protocols were signed in Switzerland, we believed that it marked the end of 95 years of the policies of lies and that it was the death knell for the Gündüz Aktan, Şükrü Elekdağ and Yusuf Halaçoğlu era. Not only was the border going to be opened, but commissions devoted to making recommendations on how to resolve the issues stemming from history were going to be established. It seems likely that while Switzerland was mediating the agreement, it tried to convince both you and Armenia by pointing to the “Bergier Commission” which it had established in 1996, as an example of a “Commission of Independent Experts”. This commission had been formed to research the role that Switzerland had played in the Jewish Holocaust. After five years of work, it presented a final report in 2001 but during those five years, 25 research papers were published covering almost 11,000 pages of information.

There is a fact that is even more important than this however. One year before the commission was formed, in 1995, the Swiss government apologized to all Jews in the world for its policies during the Second World War. In actuality the commission was formed as a result of that apology. There is no possible way that you could not have known that one of the conditions for the establishment of the commission was an apology to the Jews. Even if the Swiss hadn’t mentioned it to you, it was a well known fact and we believed that you signed the protocols with full knowledge of this, and heralded the beginning of change in 95 years of the policy of denial…. “an apology to the Armenians is on its way” so we thought. Apparently that wasn’t the case; instead you had some “oriental inscrutability” in the works. You were going to continue the 95 year old policy of denial while fabricating a resolution to the problems that have plagued our relationship with Armenia. This is hard to believe but it is apparent from everything that you have done thus far.

Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Arınç, I ask that you put this bit of information somewhere in the corner of your minds: you will never resolve the problem of 1915 by repeating a lie that’s been memorized over 95 years. If it could have been resolved by rote repetition, there were those before you, who were much louder, who would have achieved it. A black stain was smeared on the brow of the Turkish nation in 1915. The ones who did this were the Unionist murderers. If you don’t identify that stain and if you don’t put some distance between yourselves and those who placed that stain upon the brow of the Turkish nation, you won’t be able to take a single step forward on this issue. Don’t even bother trying.

Mr. Prime Minister, you’ve called what happened in 1938 in Dersim, a massacre. It’s true we don’t know exactly how many were killed, but you are acting like a bully towards those who condemn what happened in 1915, an event that involved at least 10-15 times more human beings than those who perished in Dersim. On the subject of war crimes committed by Israel against the residents of Gaza, you have shown your displeasure and lifted your voice in opposition, with justification. But when the subject of 1915 comes up, an event that involved killings of a level that can’t even begin to be compared with the violations of human rights in Gaza, you made absurd remarks like “No one can force me to admit that Moslems commit murders. My forebears were not murderers”. Don’t you think others are going to look at that and say “who is he kidding?”

You are the ones who have changed the traditional line that’s been followed on the Kurdish question, who have fought to push the military out of political life. Why are you parroting the same 95 year old lies that have been told by this military and this bureaucracy? Let me give you an example. You weren’t able to make any progress on the Kurdish and military matter by siding with the ones who called those involved in the Şemdinli event “one of our boys”.[1] You were only able to make progress after so many painful experiences, once you put distance between those “good boys” and yourselves. The subject of 1915 is no different.

“Our boys” are the ones who continue to deny that Armenians were annihilated in 1915! They’re the ones forming the Talat Pasha Committees and organizing the memorial meetings for Kemal, the murderous Mayor of Boğazlayan. And let’s not forget, they are the same ones who have planned assassinations against you and have tried to overthrow your administration…Don’t you realize that you will never be able to solve anything regarding 1915 by holding onto the same position of those who want to dig your graves?

Mr. Prime Minister and Mr. Arınç, the answers to the problems that are the legacy of 1915 can’t be found in the denialist policies of Veli Küçük, Doğu Perinçek, Şükrü Elekdağ and Yusuf Halaçoğlu. Don’t search for the answers there. You won’t get anywhere repeating the chorus they’ve been singing for 95 years. They are your adversaries on the issue of 1915, just as they are when it comes to the Kurdish issue and the issue of the military’s place in politics. You cannot construct your response to 1915 by holding rank with those who want to drag the country into chaos; who murdered Hrant Dink, who have planned massacres against Christians and who have been plotting coups against you.

If you are going to respond to 1915, you need to search for that answer in a place that is different than the answers given by Ergenekon or by the ones who plotted the coups. For this you should follow your Moslem roots in Anatolia that have risen alongside your party and take a closer look at what these roots did during 1915.

Mr. Arınç, these words are for you. With reason, you were angered by the way the women of CHP in Mersin tore up the Muslim veil [2] Do you realize, however, that with the position that you have taken you have torn the deep fabric of Anatolian Islam, have ripped apart the cultural legacy of Anatolian Moslems who can walk head held high for bravely challenging the murders of 1915? Do you know that when the Unionist gangs were murdering Armenians in 1915, the ones who put up the biggest fight, who challenged them the most were the Moslems of Anatolia? Did you have any idea that it was the Moslem community of Kastamonu that marched upon the Governor’s office demanding “we won’t stand for our neighbors being murdered”? Or that it was the Moslems of Yozgat who opposed Killer Kemal of Boğazlayan yelling “there’s no place in the Koran for the murder of innocents!”? Have you never heard of the important role played in the hanging of Killer Kemal by the written testimony of the Grand Mufti of Boğazlayan, Abdullahzade Mehmed? Did you know that in opposing the murders being committed by Killer Kemal, this Moslem Mufti said “Allah stands above us all. I fear his wrath”?

Mr. Arınç, are you aware of the order given by Commander Kamil Pasha of the Third Army in 1915? He stated “Who ever tries to hide Armenians in their homes will be executed before his front door and his home will be burned to the ground.” Despite this order, do you know that Haji Halil, a Moslem from Urfa, hid an Armenian family of eight in the attic of his home, in the market of Urfa for one full year despite the threats of death and burning? Go to Eastern Anatolia and ask the members of parliament from your own party. They’ll tell you dozens, hundreds of stories like this.

I don’t need to make a point that when the Unionists were massacring Armenians in Anatolia, pious Moslems were opposing what was happening and saying that the murder of innocents has no place in the Koran. Whichever conference I attend and whenever I’m talking with Armenians they tell me “if we are alive today, it is without a doubt because of the aid of some Moslems”. But they’ll also add “because of your government’s policy of denial, we can’t talk about it openly.”

Mr. Arınç, you can’t build a future on the backs of murderers. You can build a future on the backs of those righteous Moslems in Anatolia who challenged the murderers. In the same way that you can’t resolve today’s problems by supporting Hrant’s murderers, the “Samats” and the “Veli Küçüks”, you won’t get anywhere supporting the murderers of the Hrants of the past. The answers to 1915 can’t be found in the answers of Doğu Perinçek or Veli Küçük. They are members of the Ergenekon gang that killed Hrant Dink; it’s natural that they defend the murderers of the Hrants of the past. Let the “Veli Küçüks” defend the murderer Samat of today and the murderers Talat, Enver and Kemal of yesterday. Your place is not at the side of Veli Küçük. Your duty is to stand by the side of the “Haji Halils”, to stand up for those Moslems who put themselves and their families at risk opposing the massacres.

I would like you to recognize one more thing. Because of the 95 years of denialist policies and defense of murderers, from an international perspective there’s a second stain on the brow of Turkishness and Islam, next to the one created by 1915. Because of the policies followed by the Şükrü Elekdağ’s and the Veli Küçük’s, Turks are perceived as a people who enjoy murdering, who defend murders. We need to rescue Turkishness and Islam from the Talats and the Envers of yesterday and the Samats of today and to not allow the Elekdağ’s and the Küçük’s to define it. Turkishness and Islam are identities that are too honorable to be left at the hands of murderers and their defenders. I have an Armenian friend and he has said to me “Until yesterday, when I heard Turkish, I felt an hatred for it. I called it the language of my enemy. But since getting to know you, I’ve begun to say it’s the sound of my friend, a Turk”.

We need the honest and honorable cry of Turkishness and Islam. Let Doğu Perinçek, Veli Küçük and the ones who planned your assassination defend the murderers of yesterday and today. You need to see by now that the ones who defended Talat, Enver and Dr. Nazım in the past are the same people who defend Oğün Samat today.

If we can walk with a shred of self-respect today, head held high, it’s because we can point to Hrant’s killer and call him what he is. You need to see that once we acknowledge the murderers of the Hrants of 1915, we will walk with our heads held high, self-respect intact. Nazim Hikmet has the best words for describing what needs to be done in connection with 1915. I’d like to conclude this letter with him.

Grocer Garabed’s lights are on

He hasn’t forgiven, this Armenian citizen,

The way his father was slaughtered in the Kurdish mountains

But he loves you because you haven’t forgiven either

The stain that’s been drawn on the brows of the Turkish people

Mr. Prime Minister, I know that you like to read poetry. The Turkish person and the Moslems of the Middle East want to hear these verses from you!

[1] This references an incident where a book store in a Kurdish city was bombed. Officers in the Turkish military were suspected of having planned and/or executed the deed. The Chief of the General Staff was quoted as saying the officers were “our good boys”.
[2] This is in reference to an incident during “International Women’s Day” where women members of the CHP (Republican People’s Party) tore up the headscarf of a Moslem woman.

See also

The Akcam Case - Turkish government case against him for using the term Armenian Genocide